Mala'ha

Mala'ha is the fifth planet orbiting a red dwarf star located inside a large star cluster in the Milky Way Galaxy. A "Super-Earth" type planet, it is most notable for being the homeworld of the Mala'kak species, better known as Space Jockeys.

Mala'ha is a cold oceanic world, although it is quite hot considering the small size of its parent star and the fact that it is the fifth planet from it. The fact that it is located within a dense star cluster helps in creating a more comfortable climate, as do other factors, such as the water vapour-rich atmosphere and the gravitational pull of its three large moons and its beautiful ring system.

A terrestrial planet about seven times the size of Earth; over 84% of Mala'ha's surface is covered in water, including the enormous polar caps. Fortunately for its terrestrial inhabitants, the continents are located mostly on the equatorial zone. Although this planet is terribly cold by Earth's standards, its flora is all adapted to it, resulting in dense swamps, mangroves and rainforests growing on regions which Humans would consider tundra. Large rivers, bigger than Earth's Amazon, run through the two main continents of Mala'ha. These rivers are considered the cradle of the Space Jockey civilizations, akin to Humans' Mesopotamia.

The huge bipedal Space Jockeys evolved from semi-aquatic frugivorous ancestors. Their ancestors evolved bipedalism as the trees grew higher, in order to be more able to reach fruits. Through the eras, they also evolved to become more omnivorous and more terrestrial. Since they had always been a gregarious species, they soon started to build tools and hunt bigger prey, and eventually evolved sapience and space travel.

The gravity and atmospheric pressure of Mala'ha are greater than Earth's to such an extent that Humans (and Yautja for that matter) would need special suits to survive there. It was once considered a popular hunting spot by Yautjas, but nowadays, after severe retaliations from the powerful Space Jockey government, very few Yautjas ever go there, and when they do, they usually receive honors for coming back alive and with trophies (assuming that they do come back alive and bringing trophies).

Except for a few dead specimens in museuns and military research areas, Xenomorphs have been completely banned from the Space Jockey homeworld. Rumors about a living Xenomorph nest hidden in the southern jungles, or about a newly formed aquatic Xenomorph race inhabiting the deep Mala'ha seas have been usually denied and are considered nonsense by the scientific community.